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Saturday, September 15, 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY - B.R. Kingsolver

Welcome, welcome, welcome to BR Kingsolver. She is here to tell us a little about herself and share her books with us. Don't forget to enter to win her book and be sure to stop back by October 1st when we get to meet one of her characters.

Welcome, can you
tell us a little about yourself how long you've been writing?

I grew up in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. It’s high desert in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I hiked,
camped, and skied. Santa Fe is a city of the arts, with many famous artists and
authors. I took a long time to graduate university, working in a lot of
different jobs.

I worked as a newspaper
editor for five years and I’ve been writing and editing in the business world
for a long time. I tried to write a science fiction novel when I was fifteen,
but gave up because it was so bad. I didn’t try to write fiction again until
about a year ago.

How do you
balance between your personal life and your writing?

It’s difficult. I have to
make time to write, mainly in the evenings and on weekends. As an independent
author, I spend so much time trying to promote my books that it seriously cuts
into my writing time.

Other than
writing, what are some of your passions in life?

I enjoy the outdoors,
reading, and travel. One of the things I’m hoping to do is travel more in
Europe. I just love to see new places, especially those with a lot of history.

Envision trading
places with one of your characters in your books, who would it be and why?

It would have to be
Brenna, of course. Who wouldn’t want to be fabulously wealthy, powerful and
rich? But I wouldn’t want to sacrifice my privacy and have to look over my
shoulder all the time because people were trying to kill me.

What surprised
you the most about the writing/publishing process?

A lot of things surprised
me. How easily the story flowed was a surprise. The writing was really easy.
The next thing that surprised me was the amount of criticism. That was followed
by how difficult it is to revise a novel to make it readable. I’m smiling at my
naiveté on that one. The biggest surprise though was how much work goes into
promoting my book.

Where does your
inspiration for a new book come from?

I’ve always had an active
imagination. I envision new characters and situations easily. The problem comes
when you try to develop a story for those characters. The books I’ve published
so far are a single idea and story, and the next book is a continuation of it.
But I have a couple of new characters and ideas I want to explore and I’ve
outlined some new stories for when I finish with Brenna.

What, in your
opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

I think the first thing
is a good story. If you don’t have a story that captures a reader’s imagination
then nothing else matters, and the author has to tell that story in an
interesting manner. The second most important thing is strong, well-developed
characters that the reader considers interesting. I don’t think the reader necessarily
needs to identify with and of the characters, and they may not even like them,
but they have to be interested in what happens to them. The third thing is
mechanics. I don’t care what anyone says, spelling, grammar, punctuation and
word choice all matter. It’s jarring to trip over mechanical errors and it
takes the reader out of the story.

Who do you ask to
read your work and give their opinion? From those opinions what helps you the
most and how do you keep from picking it apart?

I have a critique group
that I work with, other authors, and they help me a lot. Some of them act as
beta readers for the finished drafts. I also have several friends who are
professional editors who are willing to read my work. When the same criticism
comes from multiple people, you have to pay attention to it. Each of my books
has been through multiple reads from at least five different people before I
submit it for final edits.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’ve published the first
two books in the Telepathic Clans, the story of Brenna O’Donnell. Brenna is
called a succubus, but that’s a bit of a misnomer. In my world, a goddess
grants telepathic gifts to the people who worship her. One of those gifts is
granted to her priestesses to accept men’s life energy as an act of devotion.

Brenna is a wilder, an
orphan who didn’t grow up knowing about other telepaths. When she reaches
adulthood and begins trying to have relations with men, this gift that she
can’t control makes things problematic. When she does find her family, things
get complicated because someone is hunting and killing women with the succubus
gift.

In Twitter
fashion use 140 characters or less, sum up The Succubus Gift for us.

I like what one reviewer
said:

“The initial synopsis struck
me as interesting, but it didn’t prepare me for the utterly heart stopping
onslaught of sex, violence and paranormal abilities out the wazoo.”

Will we be seeing
a following book to this story?

The sequel, Succubus Unleashed, is already available at all eBook retail
locations. The third book is currently in revision and I hope to publish it
this fall.

Book 1 of the Telepathic Clans Saga.

The history of the Clans, called the Sidhe by the Irish, stretches back to antiquity. The Goddess blesses Her people with 25 Telepathic Gifts. In addition to Telepathy, the Gifts include command over Air and Fire, Telekinesis and Teleportation. In over 2,500 years, She has never bestowed more than 15 Gifts on a single person.Brenna Morgan was orphaned at eight when her parents were killed in a plane crash. Through one foster home after another, she carried the ornate, carved wooden box her mother had left with her, keeping it always a secret. Then one night she stumbles over a man who claims her as family.Brenna’s life isn’t the same after she discovers her unusual and mysterious heritage. In addition to being a telepath, Brenna learns she has the Succubus Gift. That’s just the beginning of her problems. Someone is stalking her. Then there’s the tall, dangerous woman who shadows her and hints a Goddess has linked them. And what is she going to do with a handsome, charismatic, womanizing man she knows she should avoid? Some days a girl just wants to pull the covers over her head and stay in bed -- with a willing young man of course.Urban Fantasy with a dash of romance. The Succubus Gift is a completely different take on the succubus myth. Beautiful women and hot men in a world with a hidden telepathic subculture.

Excerpt:

The Succubus Gift

Chapter 1

We have been burned at the stake, locked up in asylums, drugged into a stupor. We are secretive for our own protection. - Seamus O’Donnell

She noticed the young man immediately when he walked past her, head down and in a hurry, but not only because he was so good looking. He had no thoughts, no mental activity, and that grabbed her attention in a way nothing else could have.

Following him, she stepped into a shop doorway when he stopped and looked around. Shedidn’t need to keep him in sight. She could feel his emotions, so strange coming from someone with no thoughts she could read, different than all the other people on the streets. Checking her mental shields to make sure they were as tight as she could make them, she followed him around a corner. Hedidn’t look back, seemingly not aware she was there.

Moving closer as he turned another corner into an alley, she stopped when he hesitated at the other end. He looked about before stepping out onto the street, but he never looked back. Realizing hecouldn’t feel her, she closed the distance between them.

Scanning the area with her mind, she discovered two other men, farther away, who also were mentally shielded. Their emotions were completely different than his, and she shivered at the malice radiating from them. Every time the first man changed direction, the others soon followed. Although theycouldn’t see each other, it was almost as though they could feel each other, just as she could feel them. Through the maze of streets in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area, they danced across the city in the summer twilight.

He walked into a bar just a block off the water. She knew it had entrances on two different streets, and rather than follow him, she walked to the corner, out into the street, and stood in front of one of the unusual old triangular houses in this part of town. From her vantage point she could see both entrances.

Coming out the other side, he walked in the opposite direction, away from the harbor. He was doubling back, hoping to lose his pursuers, but theyweren’t tracking him by sight or sound. She watched a man hesitate in front of the door the young man had used to enter the bar, stop, and then turn around.

He was walking faster now and she was forced to break into a run to keep up with him. He stopped in a small park, in a dark area near a building, turning and waiting for her.

“Why are you following me?” he asked as she approached him. He was tall with brown hair and blue eyes in his early twenties.

“Those men are following you. Do they want to hurt you?” she asked, looking up at him. “They don’t feel the same as you do.” His blue eyes widened.

“They’re coming. They can feel you.”

“I can’t feel you, and I doubt they can either,” he answered with a puzzled tone in his voice. “You’re an O’Neill.” He took a step toward her. “Who the hell are you?”

She felt the other men at the edge of the park. “Why are you afraid? Are they going to hurt you?”

“I don’t know. They might try,” he answered, smiling nervously.

She covered him in her shield and saw his fists clench as the other men approached. The sense of menace radiating from them increased as they drew closer, moving stealthily. In the darkness, shecouldn’t see them clearly. Large men, even bigger than the young man she was following, they had a rough look. One passed within only a few feet. He turned and looked directly at them, but continued on. She could see he held a pistol close to his body.

“Holy Mary,” the young man breathed when they were well gone.

She stepped close to him, out of the shadow, and looked up at his face. It was the first time he could see her clearly. His eyes widened in shocked surprise.

“Who are you?” she asked. “What are you? Do you know what I am?”

He stared at her pale face wreathed in black hair. His mouth opened, then closed. He swallowed and shook his head.

Book 2 of the Telepathic Clans Saga, the sequel to the multiple 5-star reviewed The Succubus Gift.

Released June 24, 2012

and is available on Smashwords, Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble

It's not easy being a succubus.Brenna O'Donnell and Rebecca Healy continue their integration into the Clan. Learning more about their Gifts and always seeking someone who will love them. After a crash course in learning about her genetic heritage, Brenna O'Donnell has discovered what it really means to be a succubus and has learned to embrace her strange Gift. Her major concern is whether Collin will accept her for what she is. As she adjusts to telepathic society, others in the Clan have plans that will strip the last of her freedom. The social season is around the corner, including events that Brenna never imagined in her wildest dreams. The succubi, representatives of the Goddess on earth, are at the center of an ancient worship. And if a girl is going to be the center of attention, then obviously she needs a new dress.Between the romance and glistening balls of the Clan's social events, Brenna and Rebecca discover life is not secure. Telepaths from other Clans are kidnapping young girls and selling them into slavery.A continuation of what one reviewer called an, "... utterly heart stopping onslaught of sex, violence and paranormal abilities ..."

Have you read The Succubus Gift??? Here is the Link to the first THREE chapters of Succubus Unleashed!WOW B.R. really knows how to get our attention. Be sure to visit her other sites!